Chapter 307: Chapter 301

As soon as he heard the news, Hyunwoo headed for STM Research Center.

The center was huge compared with its small size during the first year. It was more spacious than most universities, and there were 15 research buildings five stories or higher.

Hyunwoo paid the most attention to EVT Research Center these days because the researchers there were working on the core technology of the Paekdu Project which would change the automobile market in the world.

They have already researched improvements to luxury cars of Samryong Motors to increase their shock-absorbing ability and greatly improve ride comfort. The Super Car currently under pilot production in the first factory in Dangjin was equipped with this new technology.

But the research center Hyunwoo visited today was a different one.

It was a solar energy cell research institute that has been working on a solar project.

When Hyunwoo arrived there, he asked Dr. Namyol Koh.

“Is this a new technology related to the production of graphene?”

“Yes. When I fired a certain frequency on the graphite at high temperatures, I found that the graphene fell to pieces. These pieces of graphene can be aligned using ultrasonic waves.”

Graphene is a layer of graphite. Its electrical conductivity was more than 100 times better than copper, and electron mobility is more than 100 times faster than silicon.

Besides that, it was 200 times stronger than steel and had excellent transparency and elasticity.

Accordingly, it was a material that was attracting attention as a new material along with carbon nanotubes and fullerenes.

But the problem was that its mass production was difficult because of the pollution created in the process. Besides, it was expensive, so it wasn’t competitive economically.

Taeho Min noticed graphene, along with carbon nanotubes while researching components for a new solar energy cell but couldn’t achieve any tangible outcomes because he couldn’t solve the problems associated with it.

But the EVT center resolved the environmental pollution as well as economic feasibility at the same time.

Hyunwoo was overjoyed to hear that.

“Now, we have solved it finally. We can produce organic solar energy cells freely, right?”

But Dr. Koh shook his head.

“We’ve overcome only one big problem, but we have a long way to go. Organic solar cells are so low that their efficiency is only 2%. We must raise this.”

Hyunwoo had no idea of how low 2% was.

Dr. Koh explained easily.

“Current solar cells are the most common silicon solar cells. Its efficiency is about 17% on a module basis. That is nearly nine times that of organic solar cells.”

Only then did Hyunwoo nod his head.

“Why is there such a big difference? Is the working principle different?”

“Very different.”

Though Hyunwoo didn’t know much about it, he could get a grasp of it thanks to Dr. Koh’s kind explanation.

Silicon solar cells were manufactured in the form of diodes. So when it met the sunlight, the electrons and holes aligned in both directions. All you had to do is pull it out with wires. However, organic solar cells utilized a photoactive layer. When the cells received the electrons, the electrons fluctuated.

It is a way of extracting the accidental electrons by installing a substance that easily accepts electrons on one side. Therefore, the names of the materials constituting the photoactive layer were also given to the electron donor and the electron acceptor.

In short, it was the difference between pulling out the sorted letters in a word and accidentally popping out of it.

“Then you only need to find a way to align the electrons in the organic solar cell to one side, right?” Hyunwoo asked.

Dr. Koh answered with a hearty laugh, “Of course. But it’s not that easy to develop that technology so easily. But you can use this for a variety of purposes such as smartphones, monitors and TV.”

Hearing his explanation, Hyunwoo felt it had great added value.

Actually, Dr. Koh was interested in venture enterprise.

“I would like to start a business in this field with students. Can you invest in it?”

There was no reason for Hyunwoo to say no. That was the reason he established STM Research Center and Sinsung Univ.

“How much money do you think you need?”

“It doesn’t need a huge facility or technology. I think I need about five billion won for introducing facilities, except for the lot and building. I can give you 60% stakes in our business.”

“Got it. Let me invest in your start-up enterprise.”

***

It was already winter. Though the first snow didn’t fall, it was very chilly during the day.

Hyunwoo became impatient as he had no news yet on the successful development of the Super Car.

Then he had a call from the manager of first factory in Dangjin where Super Car was under pilot production.

“Sir, we have finally succeeded on the Paekdu Project! We also tested the performance of the new model briefly. It’s perfect.”

Hearing the good news, he ran to the factory right away.

As the factory manager said, the new model of Super Car was waiting for Hyunwoo’s arrival. It was the culmination of the SUV technology of Samryong Motors, with a Toughtex engine developed by Duyoung and the shock-absorbing device as well as the car body of carbon nanotubes developed by STM Research Center.

The factory manager explained to Hyunwoo about the specifications of Super Car named Paekdu.

The biggest strength of Super Car was Toughtex engine system. There was a 400 horsepower engine installed on each of the four wheels. In other words, the total horsepower was 1,600 horsepower.

This was similar to the engine of a tank engine.

On the other hand, the weight of the car was very light because the Toughtex engine itself weighed less than 2kg.

Its car body was also half the weight of a typical sedan because it used carbon nanotubes produced by Nanotech.

Thanks to that, it weighed only 590kg even though it was bigger than an ordinary SUV.

The lightest SUV in Korean auto history was 640kg.

Its speed was also quite impressive. In theory, its maximum speed was over 500km/h, but given its characteristics as SUV, its real maximum speed was about 300km/h.

It boasted of terrific speed, given that it took only six seconds to reach the maximum speed of 300km/h from the start of the engine.

“Would you test run it?”

Hyunwoo got into the new model Paekdu. A professional racer was seated in the passenger’s seat for safety.

Hyunwoo drove Paekdu around the test track installed near the factory. He drove it slowly and then sped up gradually.

Paekdu’s engine was very powerful, as Hyunwoo expected. But Hyunwoo hardly heard any engine noise or felt any vibration.

On one side of the test track was a road with a large pool of water in it. The puddle was about 20m long and was about 1.5m deep in its center. If Paekdu sunk, it would be submerged almost up to the window.

However, Hyunwoo drove Paekdu into the pool of water. The pool was full of water.

As the car body was so light and completely waterproof, it didn’t sink in the pool.

Hyunwoo then stepped on the accelerator. Now Paekdu began to move rapidly through the water.

Paekdu could run through water at speeds of up to 24 knots, 42km/h.

The sensor stopped the propellers, turned them into wheels again, and Paekdu ran vigorously on the road.

Hyunwoo drove back to his place after completing the test run safely.

When he got out, the factory manager said with a satisfied look, “Do you like it?”

Hyunwoo nodded his head strongly and said, “Very wonderful. How much will it cost to mass-produce Paekdu?”

“We are aiming to mass produce all brands of Super Car next April. By then, we will be able to produce 500 Paekdu, Zeus, and Flash each, 200 Glamour and 2,000 Titan per year.”

Glamour was specially designed for women, with its sale price set at 2.7 billion won.

Zeus and Titan were luxury sedans.

In particular, Zeus was intended for the world’s most affluent class, with its price set at 3.5 billion won, much more expensive than Paekdu worth 2.9 billion won.

Flash targeted the youth, which could drive at the maximum speed of 500km/h.

Its estimated retail price was set at 3.2 billion won.

Compared to the first factory specializing in ultra-expensive models, the second factory would produce luxury sedans targeting the middle class. The average retail price would be set at 60 million won, and when the factory was completed, it would produce up to 3 million cars per year.

On the other hand, the third factory was exclusively designed for super minicars whose price was set at less than 10 million won. When the factory was completed, it would produce up to five million cars per year.

The standard engines for all models, regardless of luxury SUVs or ordinary sedans, would be equipped with Toughtex engines, of course.

Super Car models by Samryong Motors would be sold from 500 million won up to 3.5 billion won.

The price of such cars could be seen as too expensive. In fact, Samryong Motors had been on the verge of bankruptcy in the past. How could it produce cars whose top price model is priced at 3.5 billion won?

But Hyunwoo was confident about the future of Samryong Motors. Thanks to the success of the Paekdu Project, there would be a high demand for such cars.

Hyunwoo was ready to prove that.

And that’s why he anxiously waited for the speedy release of the pilot Paekdu model.

But the factory manager was not yet aware of Hyunwoo’s genuine goal.

“What should do we next? There are no automobile shows in the works now. Are you going to put out promotional ads on this?”

Hyunwoo shook his head.

“No, I know a surefire method.”

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